I was heartened by this story that has been running for a couple of weeks but the University of Guelph did a very small study that found that Conjugated linoleic acid can help weight loss. I for one am hoping that we see more bigger studies to show us more about htis popular supplement as there are also some decent reports of the antioxidant properties of Conjugated linoleic acid.
The popular supplement CLA helped over adults burn fat, even through the holiday season, says a study by American and Canadian researchers.
The six-month study included 40 over people, mainly women, who were divided into two groups. One group took a daily supplement of CLA while the other group took a placebo, CBC News reported.
Over the course of the study, the people in the CLA group lost an average of 2.2 pounds of fat and tended to lose fat from the abdomen. This type of fat is believed to increase the risk of heart disease. In contrast, the participants in the placebo group gained an average of 1.5 pounds in November and December alone.
“Despite no differences between the CLA and placebo group with regards to calorie intake or physical activity throughout the study, the CLA group still managed to lose prior to the holiday season and didn’t gain any over the holidays,” said study author Andrea Buchholz, professor of applied nutrition at the University of Guelph in Canada.
The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
CLA is a form of naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat found in meat and dairy products. CLA supplements are available in health-food stores and pharmacies. While animal studies have suggested that CLA helps burn existing fat and impedes proliferation of new fat cells, previous research in humans has yielded inconsistent findings, CBC News reported.